Long, Long Way From Home
by Duck Life
Summary: Set after "Taxi Driver". Sam left that hell gate open. Someone finds the way out. Oneshot. Please R&R! Title from the Foreigner song.


The wind is cold and it helps him remember.

The first thing he remembers is that he's alive. The second, that he has a name- Adam.

There's no explanation as to where the wind came from, just that it was stuffy and dark for what feels like centuries and now suddenly it's not, and a brush of fresh breeze sifts between the cracks in the Cage and nudges the side of his face.

It's been years, he thinks, since Michael or Lucifer even looked at him, too busy with arguing between themselves or flitting around the box trying to find a way out. They're large, leathery creatures, though, with gargantuan wings and monstrous true forms, and the tiny cracks through which the wind is issuing now could never fit them.

Adam, though. They could fit Adam. He's thought about this before, often, more frequently after Sam left, but never acted on it. He is broken, abused, and as time passes he can barely remember who he is and what he is and what he needs to do to pull himself away.

The wind, though. The wind helps him remember. The decision to escape comes to him in three parts- first, that's it's possible, second, that he wants it, third, that he is going to do it. And so, while the screeching from a distant corner of the Cage continues as the two archangels duke it out above him, Adam leans toward the wind and scrabbles against the Cage wall until he's forcing himself through one of the cracks, crawling out, the freshness of the distant wind licking at his nose and hands, urging him on.

When he's squeezed himself out, miraculously, he collapses on a stone corridor floor, real breaths sweeping in and out of him. The air smells like sulfur, but Lucifer and Michael are decidedly behind him and even though he's still in Hell he feels relief.

As he pushes himself up and begins to walk, slowly, one foot in front of the other like he has to teach himself how, some distant quote comes to him- _Hell is empty, all the devils are here._ It's wrong, he thinks now, creeping through the catacombs listening to the distant shrieks and nearer pleas. Hell is plenty full.

Adam has no idea which way is up and which is just getting him deeper into the Pit, but following the wind seems a good enough plan, so he sticks to it. He marches on, his aching ribs and legs and arms still bearing bruises and slashes from the torture, marks the angel brothers hadn't healed yet. (Because they healed most of them, see, patched him up so they could start in on him again.)

The wind gets stronger as he walks on, building up from a hiss to a whisper to a whirr, and then finally it's a roar and it's right around the corner. It occurs to him, vaguely, to wonder why he hasn't been attacked as he heads into what must be salvation, but then he realizes what he must look like- a miraculous survivor, fresh from Lucifer's Cage. It's likely, ridiculous as it is, that the demons are avoiding him because he makes them uneasy.

Maybe they're right. Maybe he's more (or less) than human after all he's endured. Adam doesn't know, he really doesn't. All he knows is that there's wind and light and a way out staring him in the face and he's going to take it.

The hole, once he climbs out of it, roars on behind him as Adam straightens up, feeling whole and seeing light and breathing fresh air for the first time since he'd been Michael's vessel. He can't help it- he lets out a yelp, a mad, gleeful yelp, and then snaps his mouth shut immediately because this obviously isn't Earth. Something's off about the twisted trees and the eerie silence.

When he hears a growl he runs. It's instinct, after learning that noises meant pain and pain meant trying to get away from it. Zigzagging through the trees, almost surprised to learn he remembers how to run, Adam doesn't see the vampire until it's got his arms around him and is yanking him behind a tree. "_No, no_," he says, arms flailing, real and familiar fear in his gut.

"Calm down, boy," the vampire says, his fangs shrinking back as they wait for the wolf to run past them. Adam breathes fast and worriedly, frantic eyes darting around and taking in the man that's holding him back. He looks torn up but vibrant in this dead place, hat cocked to the side and stubble stippling his chin. "You're human. What're you doin' here?"

"I'm- I-" A gasp shudders in and out of him. The vampire still has his hands on him. "Don't kill me, please, I just got out." It's not even like he's that scared of death, really, he's just afraid that everything he's come toward, everything he's finally accomplished, is about to go up in flames.

"Shh, I'm not gonna kill you," the vampire assures him in a low southern accent. "Where'd you come from anyway? Hell, right?"

"I- yes." Adam nods rapidly.

"'Choo doing down there for?"

"I fell," he says. "I wasn't… myself. My brother- Sam…"

"Sam," the vampire says, his eyes suddenly narrowing. "This Sam… tall guy? Anger issues? Needs a haircut?"

"You know him?"

He grins, thankfully not with his fangs. "Yeah, I know him. You're his brother? His other brother?"

Adam nods again, his pulse finally lowering as the chances he's about to be vampire food seem to diminish. "I just wanna go home."

The vampire nods. "Yeah, he'll be happy to get you home." He releases Adam but beckons him forward with a hand. "Come on. Let's get to the exit 'fore another one of those damn wolves shows up." Adam waits, hesitant to trust a vampire, but the wind coaxes him on.

He steps forward and begins the long trek home.


End file.
